Zhao Ger treated the workers kindly, but to them he was both the factory owner and the prefect's fulang, so they couldn’t help feeling inferior around him. Plus, they barely ever saw him. It was only these past two days, because of the instant noodles, that Zhao Ger had been coming to the kitchen more often. Otherwise it was nearly impossible to run into him. So they were extra respectful toward him.
That smell was so good. When the young masters ate, they slurped loudly too. Children are picky eaters, especially children from rich families. If the young masters were eating it that eagerly, the instant noodles had to be delicious — and probably nutritious too. Otherwise how could the two young masters be so chubby and fair-skinned? The second young master wasn’t fat, and though he was almost eight he was small and thin — he didn’t even look five. But everyone knew the second young master was the strongest. When he came to help at the factory, the straw was bundled into piles as big as small mountains—piles that they themselves struggled to carry—yet the second young master could lift them with ease.
Maybe the young masters turned out like this because they ate too much instant noodles. The workers also wanted to buy some for their kids back home, to give them something nourishing. But when they went to town, they couldn’t find any shop that sold it.
If it were anyone else, they would have gone up and asked a couple of questions, but facing Zhao Ger and the others, they didn't dare.
A woman peered into the room, envious: "Lord Fang is really so good to the zhujun and the young masters."
He even plays with them.
Their own men weren't like this.
"I heard Lord Fang even often bathes the young masters himself!"
They weren't from Pingxiang Village; they'd heard all this from people at the factory.
In the past, men didn't do housework. With a wife or fulang around, they especially wouldn't bathe the children, since that was also the work of the one in the house. Some men who doted on their children would help bathe them at first, but when others saw, they'd mutter and mock, saying it was improper—whose man does such things?
Only those with no prospects did that.
Later, Fang Zichen took the three children to the river to wash. Sometimes Zhao Ger didn't go along, and he alone scrubbed the three children. Gungun and Dandan were chubby and sweated a lot, so Fang Zichen occasionally washed their clothes himself at the river too. When the villagers saw this, especially those who had been mocked earlier for helping bathe their children, they said: "Earlier you all scolded me and laughed at me for having no prospects. Now look at Lord Fang."
If you've got the guts, try laughing at him too?
Go on and say he has no prospects!
The people around them were speechless.
How to put it?
No prospects? A prefect in his twenties, such a big official, with over a dozen county magistrates under him, all in their forties. And with the prefect around, they could fill their bellies. Would they dare say that?
If that counted as having no prospects, then what were they?
They also saw how close the children were to Fang Zichen. Some men thought again: their own sons, after five or six years old, would never be like this with them anymore. Though they still called them father and were obedient, it was just different from the prefect and his children!
The young masters were always wanting to kiss the prefect—barring any mishap in the future, they would surely be filial children!
The prefect didn't even need to worry about growing old and being unable to move, with his children refusing to feed him.
The village was poor. Earlier, when food was scarce, the elderly often starved to death. Besides wanting to save rations for the children, there were also sons and daughters-in-law who disliked them for being unable to work and refused to give them food... Moreover, children were mostly close to their mothers—why was that??
No, they had to learn from the prefect. Otherwise, if their sons weren't close to them, and when they grew old their sons drove them into the pigsty, giving them neither food nor drink—what then?
Learn from the prefect—go bathe and wash clothes for the children right away.
Without realizing it, the people of Hezhou had been influenced by Fang Zichen again.
Later, when Qin Hengxuan came to Hezhou, he was stunned to see a huge crowd of men by the river, grunting as they scrubbed clothes. When he asked what was going on, people told him, "They’re copying your son. Your son started this."
"Hey, don't laugh," one of them added. " Ever since I started washing my kid's bottom myself, that little rascal even picks out the chicken butt for me whenever we butcher a chicken. So filial! I help my wife with the laundry now too, and she’s been treating me so much better lately — she doesn't even complain about my stinky feet anymore."
He grinned. "Lord, want me to teach you a trick or two?"
Qin Hengxuan: "......"
He couldn't learn it.
If he went to wash his son's bottom, his son would probably say some nonsense again and anger him to death.
"He couldn't win an argument, and he couldn't bring himself to hit him either. His fulang protected him, his parents protected him. If he said he wanted to hit him, they'd say, 'Step over my corpse first.' And he himself couldn't bear it either."
So troublesome.
Whenever Qin Hengxuan was driven to anger by Fang Zichen, he would always especially thank Fang father and Fang mother for raising such an outstanding son — everyone he met praised him. But he also couldn't help sighing. He really owed people so much. His son's mouth made him both love him and hate him. In the two and a half months he'd stayed with them, he'd had to call for the physician four times. Fang father and Fang mother must have had it even worse!
Right then, a few people were chatting lively when Guaizai came out from the doorway. As he walked, they could almost hear water sloshing around in his belly.
Several people called to him: "Second Young Master, where are you going?"
"Father cooked instant noodles. Guaizai wants to go to the outhouse to pee, and when I come back I can still eat a couple bites with Father. Uncles and aunties, you go ahead—no need to mind Guaizai."
After eating the instant noodles, Zhao Ger stayed at the paper mill to help, and Fang Zichen led the three children back.
Uncle Tang had gone to work in the vegetable patch and wasn't there.
Gungun and Dandan had drunk a bellyful of water. Although Fang Zichen later made instant noodles, they only got two bites. On the way back they peed twice, and now their bellies were hungry.
But the food their father cooked was just like their eldest brother's—very scary. Gungun and Dandan's eyes darted around, and they ran next door to the Zhang family, saying they were going to play with Zhang Huahua. Fang Zichen let them go.
Now the two children walked hand in hand into the Zhang family yard.
"Grandma Zhang."
"Oh my, Gungun and Dandan, why are you here?"
Grandma Zhang doted on these two little ones. At this moment there were quite a few people in the Zhang family yard, all gathered to chat.
"Grandma Zhang, Gungun's tummy is hungry. Do you have anything to eat at home? Could you give Gungun and Dandan a little bit?"
What's there to not allow!
Of course I can!
"Yes, yes, yes. Grandma will steam eggs for you. You go inside and play with Huahua first. When they're done, Grandma will call you."
"Thank you, Grandma."
Seeing Grandma Zhang really go to the back yard to get eggs, several women laughed.
"Has this old woman changed her nature today? So generous—willing to steam eggs."
Grandma Zhang came out quickly, holding three eggs in her hands. Earlier the chickens weren't fed well and didn't lay eggs often. This year after the harvest, the family kept about twenty catties of grain. After milling, she took the rice bran to feed the chickens. Now the eggs they laid were bigger. Hearing this, she wasn't unhappy.
"Just a few eggs—how much are they worth! If it were you, would you be unwilling? Besides, if it weren't for the two young masters earlier, I'd probably be up on the mountain by now."
Everyone remembered.
Earlier, Grandma Zhang was hoeing weeds in the field when she was bitten by a snake. Half her body went numb. At that time there wasn't anyone around. Gungun and Dandan happened to be coming back from the paper mill and saw some wild raspberries by the road, so they picked and ate them. They picked all the way to the edge of the Zhang family field and saw Grandma Zhang lying on the ground. Curious why she was sleeping in the field, they ran over to look. When they heard she'd been bitten by a snake, Gungun and Dandan immediately ran home to call Fang Zichen. Later she was sent to the medical hall. The old physician said it was lucky it was timely—if any later, she could have gone straight to lie on a board in the coffin shop next door.
Even without this, she wouldn't have begrudged a few eggs. The good life they had now — a life they never even dared to dream of — was all given to them by the prefect.
A person must never forget kindness, and even more so must never forget where they came from. Eating two eggs—what's the big deal?
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